Adelson gives $500K to Arizona group opposing pot legalization

PHOENIX — The campaign against legal recreational marijuana in Arizona last week received a $500,000 donation from Las Vegas casino owner Sheldon Adelson.

Adelson’s donation follows contributions from other business owners who have funded Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, which opposes Proposition 205. The campaign has raised about $4.3 million to oppose the legalization of recreational marijuana in Nevada’s neighbor to the southeast.

Adelson has spent $2 million opposing Nevada Question 2, which would decriminalize the recreational use of pot in Nevada, and $1 million to oppose a similar ballot question in Massachusetts. Adelson and his wife, Dr. Miriam Adelson, support nonprofit drug abuse treatment and research in Nevada and elsewhere.

Prop. 205 makes recreational pot legal for adults 21 and older, allowing them to use, possess, manufacture and give away or transport up to an ounce of marijuana.

The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Sheldon Adelson, chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp.